The road to the trailhead has potholes but if you take it slow you can navigate around or over most of the potholes. Most conventional cars can make it no problem. You'll pass a pit toilet on the road in and it's signed as your last available facility before the trailhead. There are no restroom facilities at the trail head.
We arrived at the trailhead at 9:15 AM in the morning. We were the only car there. Amazing! As described, the trail begins as a wide track, then becomes narrower with increasingly tricky footing over roots and rocks but with long stretches of flat between those. It's the kind of trail most hikers have encountered in the Cascades and should offer no particular challenges. WTA has worked on this trail for about the first couple miles. After that, the vegetation closes in on the trail and the footing becoming a little more tricky in places. There are a few little stream crossings easily danced across with minimal wetness. There are some downed logs to straddle across or under on the last couple miles. WTA has placed flagging in places suggesting more work is planned. That said, on the way out, we encountered a WTA crew already busy along the first part of the trail. They told us they planned to camp for a week and continue the trail work. Thank you WTA!
This is such a beautiful trail with the sound of the river in the gorge below and two waterfalls dropping down the far side from high above. Wildflowers out included bunchberry, western starflower, viola, and brambles. Maidenhair ferns adorned moist rock walls. All the forest floor ferns looked fresh. We spied just a few mushrooms. A couple garter snakes quickly slithered for cover as we walked along.
It turned out that this was the hottest day of the year so far. I had 1.5L in my bladder and my wife had a 1L bottle. We had drank it all by the time we were back at the car. My car thermometer read 90°F as we drove back down the highway toward Arlington.
Comments
Great photos. Thanks for posting.
Posted by:
thebrink on May 29, 2025 04:01 PM